Preface

What this book is about

This book discusses the implementation of Fibre Channel technology for Mass Storage environments. It opens with discussions on storage architectures, their limitations, and how Fibre Channel helps to overcome these limitations.

Next, details of the Fibre Channel technology, focused on the mass storage application, are discussed. Addressing schemes for the Hewlett-Packard implementation are covered in detail as well as Hewlett-Packard products supporting this technology. And finally, future developments and improvements are addressed.

Who should read this book?

You should read this book if Fibre Channel is new to you or if you will be working with peripherals that are attached to a Hewlett-Packard system using Fibre Channel technology. This is a brand new technology that is quickly becoming an industry standard. It is already being installed in data centers around the world and may very well be the next communications protocol installed at your location.

If you are a System Administrator and your job is to control configurations and resources of computer systems or do installation of peripherals, this book is a must. If you are a Network Administrator and your job is to configure and support networks, this book is a must. Also read this book if you are a Technical Support Technician and you support or troubleshoot computer systems and their resources.

Why is this book needed?

Fibre Channel is a new technology and many people are not familiar with its functionality or terminology. Therefore, this book was written to introduce new Fibre Channel users to this important, fast rising technology.

Publications that do exist on Fibre Channel, talk more generically about the technology or focus on the networking aspects. This publication is focused on adding information on Fibre Channel as a technology applied to the mass storage environment and specifically how Hewlett-Packard is implementing Fibre Channel in mass storage environments.

How to use this book

This book can and should be used as a reference book. For example, if you are familiar with Fibre Channel you would want to review the functional levels in Chapter 2 and then read on from there. If you are familiar with Fibre Channel and only want to know how HP is implementing addressing, you could read Chapter 4. However, if you are unfamiliar with Fibre Channel you will want to start at the beginning, including this preface, and read through chapter by chapter. It is written in a progressive manner to lead you through learning step-by-step.

At a Glance

Following is a chapter-by-chapter glance at this book:

Chapter 1 — This chapter discusses limitations of current mass storage architectures, explains how Fibre Channel answers these limitations, and defines basic terms and topologies.

Chapter 2 — This chapter details the functional levels of Fibre Channel, emphasizing physical components. There are six levels, three are port levels and three are node levels.

Chapter 3 — This chapter discusses the features and operations of the Fibre Channel Arbitrated Loop (FC-AL), and explains how FC-AL is a very effective topology for mass storage. Hewlett-Packard has a commitment to this topology, as evidenced by its Fibre Channel hub product. This chapter will familiarize the reader with the characteristics, operations, and advantages of FC-AL.

Chapter 4 — This chapter explains why Fibre Channel is a fast, flexible technology that enables a large number of devices to communicate. This chapter describes in detail Peripheral Device, Logical Unit, and Volume Set addressing, which is unique to Hewlett-Packard’s HP-UX Operating System environment.

Chapter 5 — This chapter presents an overview of the Hewlett-Packard’s Fibre Channel products, describes the systems that support Fibre Channel, and discusses how the products work together.

Chapter 6 — This chapter discusses the future developments and improvements to Fibre Channel and how to get more information. This chapter familiarizes the reader with some of the capabilities that may become available in the near future.